CARROLL:MYDAYS OF ALCOHOLISM & DEPRESSION
FORMER Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll has opened up on his battle with alcoholism and depression.
Carroll, who made 72 appearances for United over a four-year spell, revealed he would start drinking as soon as he woke up, as his life spiralled out of control.
The 42-year-old’s problems started when he left United for West Ham in 2005 and then suffered a serious injury, which left him unable to play.
“I was doing the same thing every day,” said Carroll. “I was getting in that little hole and it was getting bigger and bigger.
“Because I was injured I wasn’t going into training – they told me to take two months off. I was getting into a routine, waking up about 10am, drinking when I got up, drinking at lunchtime, drinking at teatime.
“The wife and the kids would come in and I was depressed that I couldn’t
‘I knew I was going to end up dying if I kept doing what I was doing’
do anything. It was such a horrible feeling. My wife knew I was in a bad way. That’s why I went to rehab. I didn’t even know how bad I was.
“I knew I was probably going to end up dying if I kept doing what I was doing. It was at that moment that something clicked.
“I just had to change myself and I ended up going back to my wife, begging her to take me back. She never took me back straight away but I’ve stayed dry ever since. That was nine years ago and 11 months.”
Despite being sober for nearly a decade, the former Northern Ireland international revealed he faces a daily battle with his demons.
“Sometimes I can feel myself getting back into that routine, because I don’t do anything during the day,” said Carroll, who runs his own coaching clinic, RC1 Coaching, in his native Northern Ireland.
“When you have too much time on your hands that’s when you think too much. I talk about it now because I want to help. If I can help one person, I’d be over the moon.”